Tire blaze Causes an Environmental Catastrophe in Kuwait

Hundreds of firemen battled to contain a huge fire in a Kuwaiti scrap yard on Tuesday which environmentalists and MPs called an ‘environmental catastrophe’.

Several MPs called for an investigation following the fire, which broke out at a dump of more than 5m used tires just outside the city of Saad Al-Abdullah.

The government will form a committee to investigate the blaze as well as ask the municipality for an alternative site to be used as a landfill for used tires away from residential areas, as Information Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Abdullah Al-Sabah said.

Burning tires releases a toxic concoction of pollutants that are particularly harmful to children.

Environmental authorities advised residents in the area to use masks but calls to suspend schools in the local area were rejected following an inquiry into gas levels, as Kuwait Times stated.

Ten people were treated for suffocation.